Smear and loathing, that is about right, well it is from the right, a never-ending diet of fear, smear and misinformation, do the right thing on Thursday and put a stop to the hideous destruction waged with the help of the mainstream media over these last five years. 

Art-O-Mat

The idea of art in a vending machine isn’t a new one of course, not aware of it happening over here before. The Art-O-Mat people have been impressively converting old vending machines for a few years now – “The inspiration for Art-o-mat® came to artist Clark Whittington while observing a friend who had a Pavlovian reaction to the crinkle of cellophane. When the friend heard someone opening a snack, he had the uncontrollable urge to have one too. In June 1997, Clark was set to have a solo art show at a local cafe, Penny Universitie in Winston-Salem, N.C. He used a recently-banned cigarette machine to create the first Art-o-mat®. It was installed along with 12 of his paintings. The machine sold Clark’s black & white photographs mounted on blocks for $1.00 each. The show was scheduled to be dismantled in July 1997. However, owner Cynthia Giles loved the machine and asked that it stay permanently. At that point, it was clear that involvement of other artists was needed if the project was going to continue. Cynthia introduced Clark to a handful of other local artists and the group Artists in Cellophane (AIC) was formed. The machine remained unaltered in its original location until 2010”.

Over here, things start vending in East London this Thursday. Nothing to do with Art-O-Matic (as far as we know), just a similar idea….

The first Vending Machine Gallery launch night on the 7th May in the Fox Pub (372 Kingsland Road, London E8 4DA). DJ sets from Agi Mdumulla (Agi and Sam) and Tom Forde (Good Times, Clutch) will kick off the launch party at 7pm.

“The Vending Machine Art Gallery will showcase 40 artists including Jeremy Banx, cartoonist for the Financial Times; Petro, the fine artist and graffiti writer who has recently exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery; and Katie Brooks, a taxidermist whose work is currently showing as part of the Barbican Magnificent Collections exhibition. There will be a run of just 50 prints for each work. The prices will range from £5 to £20”  – more from www.thevendingmachineartgallery.com .

Artists involved: Chris Lawton | Chris Mackenzie-Gray | Christian Wood | Corey Hemingway | Craig Keenan | Dan Hunt | David Shackleton | EGS | Ella Golt | Ellie Andrews | Emily Evans | Freya Faulkner | Graham Moulding | Hector Plimmer | RubiCANE aka Ian Bruce | Jade Cheng | James Clohessy | Jamie Julien Brown | Jeremy Banx | Joe Holbrook | Joseph Kelly | Katie Brookes | Lo Parkin | Mat Williams | Matt Macken | Maximage | Pang | Peter Rapp | Petro | Philippe Fenner | Raiph Vaughan | Ricky Byrne | Ozniak Brothers | Richard Head | Sophie Mason | The Taffy | Tony Savas | Will Stewart | Will Tuck | Zoey Zhao

More if this tomorrow, maybe….